Chapter 15
No sooner than he’d said it, the humans closed in.
The slope swarmed with human bodies, victory cries and glinting steel. I was surrounded before I knew what was going on. I froze. The tips of dulled, rusted blades were pointed in my direction.
Ramsay’s warning had dawned on me too late. He slowly closed his eyes now, exhausted and looking like he might cry.
Shifted into human form, Eric, Colton and Crystal stood still halfway down the slope. They knew they couldn’t make a move--not with all the weapons trained on me.
The ravine fell silent except for the heavy, panicked beating of my own heart.
I really fucked this up, didn’t I?I thought bitterly.
Eric was the first one to speak. His voice was steady and firm. “Humans. What do you want?”
A hooded woman approached from behind. Her voice was gravelly and calm, and the rest of the humans watched her with reverence. She must have been the equivalent of their pack leader.
“We want this wolf,” she said, gesturing to me. “That is all. The rest can go.”
Ramsay let out a strained, humorless laugh. “Yeah, right. That ain’t happenin’--”
One of the humans hit Ramsay in the chest with the hilt of his sword, making him grunt in pain.
“Stop!” I yelled. “I won’t do anything if you hurt them.”
The woman looked at me. Her eyes were obscured by the hood, and I could only see her lips in a slight frown. She turned back to Eric.
“What is your response?” she asked.
Eric raised his lip in a growl but didn’t react. His boots dug deep in the dirt like he was forcing himself not to move.
Colton hesitantly took a step forward. “Please, we can’t let him go with you.”
But before Colton could put his foot down, the woman raised something in her arm that made his eyes widen. I realized with a cold shudder that it was a rifle--probably the same one that fired the bullet that grazed Eric’s arm.
Crystal growled and muttered something under her breath. Her face was a furious scowl of helplessness. There was nothing she could do--nothing any of us could do except agree to her terms.
I realized that giving in to her demands was the only thing that would save the others.
“You said the rest can go,” I said. “Is that true?”
Ramsay and Noro stared at me in disbelief.
“Matheson, you cannot,” Noro said quietly.
“Yes,” the woman replied. “You have my word as the Madame of our people.”
“Matheson!” Eric snapped. “Stop this right now! You’re being ridiculous.”
But I already knew there was no other choice. If I disagreed, I had no doubt my lovers and friends would be killed. As strong as a wolf shifter was, there were only six of us present, and half of us were incapacitated or wounded. Even if someone managed to disarm the gun, there would surely be a casualty, and that was a risk I wasn’t willing to take.
I looked at Noro and Ramsay, both afraid and hurt. Besides his surface wounds, Noro seemed in better shape. He would be fine with some rest. But Ramsay…
Up close, I saw the state of his injuries. His wounds were deep and numerous. His body glistened with cold sweat, and he trembled even in Noro’s arms.
I glared up at the Madame. “I’ll agree to your terms, but only if Ramsay comes with me.”
Ramsay let out a sound that might have been a gasp if he didn’t sound so weak. My heart broke, and that only cemented my decision. I was staying with him, no matter where I was or what happened to me.
